Baseball: Metea Valley bats outwork Glenbard North's
It only seemed like a miserable day to hit a baseball.
All nine starters had at least one of Metea Valley's 16 hits in Friday's 9-6 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Glenbard North in Carol Stream.
Despite the frigid temperatures and a howling wind blowing straight in, the teams managed to combined for 25 hits. The Mustangs' Danny Zorn broke a 6-6 tie with a 2-run opposite-field double in the top of the sixth, and Spencer Collins followed with an RBI single.
"We've been swinging the bats nicely this season," Zorn said. "All the younger guys have been contributing. Today I was kind of looking outside pitches, drive it to right. That's what they were giving me. I was just looking to drive it wherever."
Wrapping up their DVC schedule with their fifth series victory, the Mustangs (16-13, 13-11) continued a near nonstop stretch of action with their sixth win in seven games. Glenbard North (8-20, 3-18) didn't make it easy.
The Panthers never let Metea Valley drift too far away. They tied it 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Anthony Ferreri and a run-scoring groundout by Dom Rotondo.
Metea Valley finally grabbed the lead for good in the sixth. Jake Kmiecik, the last of the Mustangs' four pitchers, nailed down the win with 2 innings of scoreless relief.
"They've got one too many good hitters," said Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko. "We've been playing better as of late, so that's definitely a good sign going into next week and into the playoffs. I'm proud of our guys the way they kept battling back. Just not enough hits today."
Jim Zay went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI for Glenbard North while Mike Wellman and Isaiah Thordarson also had 2 hits. Zorn and Clay Billadeau went 3-for-4 for the Mustangs. Collins drove in 3 runs.
"It was a tough day to hit for both teams, but I liked our offensive approach a lot," said Mustangs coach Craig Tomczak. "This was a game where we needed to pitch better. We just weren't able to do that as a staff. You're not going to get that many runs off really good arms going forward in the playoffs."
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